"Do you want apple fries with that?" That's the refrain that parents and their wee ones are now hearing at Burger King restaurants across America.

Burger King is one of 19 fast food and fast-casual chains, representing some 15,000 individual restaurant locations, to have joined "Kids LiveWell," an initiative that launched Wednesday, July 13, dedicated to increasing the selection of healthful menu items for kids. To be a part of the program, which is sponsored by the National Restaurant Association, restaurants must offer at least one children's meal, including an entree, side, and beverage, with fewer than 600 calories. The meal must be well-balanced with servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein an/or low-fat dairy, and there are limits on sodium, fats, and sugar. Participating restaurants must also offer at least one additional healthful a la carte item consisting of no more than 200 calories.

While they don't need to nix the less wholesome fare from their menus, the restaurants are obligated to "promote/identify the healthful options." Hence Burger King employees' apple fry inquiry, reports NPR. IHOP, which had previously reduced its children's menu to fewer than 600 calories per meal and made fruit the default side, is introducing two new children's menu items to add to that — pancakes and scrambled eggs, both served with fruit. Chili's will promote its chicken sandwich with a side of pineapple or mandarin oranges.

The initiative comes as diners are increasingly seeking healthier options on restaurant menus, Chili's Joe Taylor told NPR. "We've seen our guests customize their meals to a greater degree when they are looking to hold the mayo or add the broccoli," he said.

While Robert Post, deputy director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, praised the program as "a great start to help empower consumers — kids and parents especially — with more healthier choices at restaurants," other public health experts say it's just not enough.

"Most restaurants already offer one or two healthy choices — but they are present amidst a minefield of high-calorie, salty, high-fat options," said Margo Wootan, the nutrition policy director of the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, in a statement. "The great majority of choices on children's menus should be healthy, given that kids are getting one-third of their calories outside the home, and eating out is linked to obesity."

She stressed that restaurants like McDonald's, which is not part of the initiative, should "follow Burger King's lead and not just shove fries and soft drinks into kids' meals, but ask parents if they want a fruit or vegetable side dish and milk, juice, or water instead."

While McDonald's and other chains are not part of the program as of now, Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, told NPR that the group is hoping to expand to include more restaurants in the future.